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Jason Richardson is on a mission to make solids and stripes a thing of the past for golf attire. As the number of young people playing golf increases, Jason has noticed a clear need for golf shirts that sport fun and unique patterns and designs. While his sales continue to skyrocket, Jason’s company, Bad Birdie, needs some help from the Shark Tank to meet inventory demands and to continue to grow and acquire new customers. To do this, Bad Birdie is looking for a strategic partner willing to invest $300,000 in exchange for 10% equity.

Bad Birdie’s high-performance shirts are anti-odor, anti-microbial, and support fun and fashionable designs. Using a limited-supply business model, Jason drives demand for his shirts by offering them in small quantities on specific release dates. This method has worked very well for Bad Birdie and has allowed them to enjoy steady sales growth over the last several years, exceeding $1 million in yearly sales in 2019. Most of their sales are online, however, Bad Birdie has begun to explore a retail option over the past several months.

The Sharks all have very strong opinions on if retail is the right path for this product line. Most of the Sharks think that he should continue to do what he is doing with a limited-supply of specialized designs being available on launch dates as it truly seems to be working for their customer base. This model allows them to generate excitement and hype, whereas the enthusiasm for a product is lost in retail where anyone can purchase the product. Bad Birdie’s model of drop-dates also helps to keep the younger age demographic, their key target, engaged and interested in the product.

After this open dialog in the Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary shows interest in investing in Bad Birdie and offers $300,000 in exchange for 30% equity with a contingency that they can not go into retail. Robert Herjavec has a different take on this, however. Robert trusts Jason’s leadership and guidance since it has been very successful so far and decides to make an offer without any contingencies attached. Robert offers $300,000 for 25%. In an attempt to save some of their equity, Jason counters for 20%. Robert does not want to go any lower, but they decide to a putting contest. If Robert sinks his put, Jason will accept 25%. If he does not, Robert will get 20% equity instead of 25%. Lucky for Bad Birdie, Robert missed the put and they agree to a $300,000 investment in exchange for 20% equity.

Would you purchase Bad Birdie’s golf attire at a premium price tag? If you were a Shark investing in this company, would you be open to them evaluating and testing a retail go-to-market strategy to see how it affects sales? Start the conversation in the comments below.

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